Discourse, capital, intersectionality and precarity

Abstract

In this chapter, I begin by presenting an analysis of neoliberal discourse and how this has shaped global and national health and social care policies by subtly shifting the responsibility of paying for care from the state to the individual. The biopolitical nature of this subtle shift in health responsibilities, driven by a rhetoric of choice, has paved the way for the marketisation of health and social care systems in most Western countries. The dominant theorisations of ageing — biomedical, social gerontological and ‘successful ageing’ — are then discussed. The chapter goes onto discuss the Bourdieusian concepts of capital and field, applying these to the health and social care context. Following this, I discuss how a feminist intersectional analysis, which situates social class alongside other identities (such as age, gender, ethnicity and disability), is important for understanding the heterogeneity of older people. The layering of different identities impacts on the levels of inequality older people experience and their ability to access health and social care services.